12 minute read
Literature
Rare signed photograph of courageous anti-Stalin poet Anna Akhmatova
481. Anna Akhmatova Signed Photograph. Important Russian poet (1889–1966) whose work was condemned and censored by Stalinist authorities; her emotionally restrained, short lyric poems include meditations on time and memory, and touch upon the difficulties of living and writing in the shadow of Stalinism. Incredibly rare vintage matte-finish 3.25 x 4.5 photo of the great Russian poetess, signed and inscribed on the reverse in blue ballpoint in Cyrillic, and dated at Moscow in 1962. In very fine condition. An incredibly scarce signed photo of the courageous poet, and the very first Akhmatova autograph we have offered. Starting Bid $500
482. Ambrose Bierce Signed Photograph. American writer
(1842–c.1914) best known for his vivid short stories (including the classic ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’) and his satirical ‘The Devil’s Dictionary.’ In 1913, while traveling with Pancho Villa’s troops during the Mexican Revolution, Bierce disappeared; his ultimate fate remains a mystery. Rare 4 x 6.25 cabinet photo by Blakesly’s Elite Studio of California, signed and inscribed on the reverse in black ink, “Forrest Crissey Esqr., Compliments of Ambrose Bierce.” In fine condition, with light soiling to the signed side. Starting Bid $200
Signed first edition of Capote’s pioneering true crime classic
483. Truman Capote Signed Book. Signed book:
In Cold Blood. First edition. NY: Random House, 1965. Hardcover with dust jacket, 6 x 8.5, 343 pages. Neatly signed on a free end page in fountain pen, “Truman Capote.” Autographic condition: fine. Book condition: NF/ VG, with a few professional repairs to the dust jacket. Accompanied by a custom-made clamshell box. Starting Bid $200
Commenting on Christianity and his VALIS vision: “I have an equation between the concept ‘Gnosticism’ and ‘access key to the retrieval of information from a vast information-retrieval system that is the universe’”
485. Philip K. Dick Typed Letter Signed. TLS signed “Love, Phil,” two pages, 8.5 x 11, October 2, 1981. Letter to science fiction author Patricia Warrick, in part: “I just now realized something, out of nowhere; it just simply came to me...all at once I have an equation between the concept ‘Gnosticism’ and ‘access key to the retrieval of information from a vast informationretrieval system that is the universe’; if indeed the universe is, as I say in my September 30th letter, ‘an information retrieval system,’ look sat the elevation thereby of the concept of ontological status of knowing, of the gnosis itself as the essence, the very basis, of what the system (which is to say Christianity) is all about.” In fine condition, with a small stain to the first page. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope. Starting Bid $200
484. Samuel L. Clemens Signature.
Large ink signature, “Mark Twain,” on an off-white 4.25 x 2.5 sheet. Archivally matted and framed with two photos and a caption to an overall size of 21 x 17. In fine condition, with central vertical fold. Starting Bid $200
486. Charles Dickens Signature. Ink signature,
“Faithfully yours, Charles Dickens, Washington, Eighth February 1868,” on an off-white 4 x 2.25 slip. Archivally matted and framed with a portrait of the author to an overall size of 16.25 x 16.25. In fine condition, with a trimmed top edge. Starting Bid $200
The Madame Bovary author battles writer’s block before beginning his masterpiece: “It has been more than two years since I wrote a line of French”
487. Gustave Flaubert Autograph Letter Signed. ALS in French, signed “G. F.,” one page both sides, 5.5 x 8.25, [August 8, 1851]. Handwritten letter to his lover, Louise Colet, in part (translated): “I will bring you back your manuscript and the drama of Madeleine. You would also please me if you would take back your medal. I hope to make you see reason on this. You ask me to bring you something of myself. I have nothing to show you. It has been more than two years since I wrote a line of French and what I had written long before my departure is illegible and not copied. Besides, in my state of disgust with myself, now is not the time.” In fine condition. Starting Bid $300
488. Robert Frost Signed Photograph. Rare vintage matte-
finish 7.5 x 9.25 portrait of Robert Frost seated in a rocking chair in front of a bookcase, affixed to the original 10 x 12 mount, which is signed and inscribed in fountain pen, “To Gerald Brach, from his friend and teacher, Robert Frost.” Also signed in pencil by the photographer, “W. S. Stone ‘50.” In very good to fine condition, with some damage to the mount, easily matted out to make an attractive presentation. A truly superb portrait of the adored writer, who remains scarce in this format and size. Starting Bid $200
Vivid image from Hemingway’s lion hunt during the safari that inspired numerous literary works
490. Ernest Hemingway Signed Photograph. Superb
vintage matte-finish 11.5 x 9.25 photo of Hemingway posing with a lion he brought down on safari in January of 1934, signed and inscribed in black ink, “To Lynn Bogue Hunt, with very best wishes from his friend, Ernest Hemingway.” Nicely double-matted and framed to an overall size of 21.5 x 19. In fine condition. Lynn Bogue Hunt was America’s foremost periodical wildlife artist. From 1904 to 1960, he produced the cover art for over 100 issues of Field and Stream. Hunt also did work for Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, Country Gentleman, Boy’s Life and illustrated over 50 books. This incredible image showing Hemingway, the Great White Hunter, on safari in Tanganyika captures a major inspiration in his literary work. It was excursions such as this that inspired him to write some of his finest pieces, including Green Hills of Africa, True at First Light, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. Infused with his brash machismo, this iconic image is quintessential Hemingway—in his prime in the wilds of the Serengeti Plain, augmented by its gorgeous signature and meaningful association between the legendary author and well-known wildlife artist. Starting Bid $2500
Zane Grey’s tale of trout trolling in Oregon—100+ handwritten pages of classic fishing nonfiction
489. Zane Grey Autograph Manuscript Signed. AMS in
pencil, signed on the reverse of the first page, “Zane Grey,” titled at the head, “Rocky Riffle on the Rogue River,” 107 pages, no date but circa mid-1920s. Grey’s original handwritten draft of a nonfiction work based on a trip taken in 1924, originally published in Field and Stream in 1926; the tale is also published in his 1928 book Tales of Fresh-Water Fishing. The piece begins, “That old adage ‘the third time is the charm’ worked truthfully for me in my 1924 trip to Oregon. It was a wonderful fishing experience, beginning disastrously for me, wearing on through the most miserable and inexplicable bad luck, and winding up gloriously.” Engaging in a friendly fishing competition with his brother, R. C., Grey experiences one setback after another before he finally hits his groove: “My fish, feeling the hard strain again, started off on his determined down-stream course. I let him go, but gradually tightened my hold of the line as it dipped through my left hand. I had to hold him or lose him. How he fought! He even ceased tugging until he had most of my line out. Then began the slow work of drawing him back foot by foot. It took so long that dusk had fallen by the time we got our first glimpse of his color…The time came when he rose to the surface, and I saw clearly a bigger steelhead than I had landed. The luck of it! I felt sure of him. I had no torturing doubts or fears. And I gave him the strain of the rod until he was beaten.” On the reverse of the first page, Grey writes and signs a note to Frank McGlynn of the Friars Club in New York City, consenting to the production of a play; on the back of page 60, he draws a small sketch of a woman’s face. In overall fine condition.Starting Bid $300
The Metamorphosis author writes to his fiancée
491. Franz Kafka Signed Envelope. Much lauded and influential Czech-born writer (1883–1924) whose man-turned-insect story Metamorphosis (1915) and novel The Trial (1925) have earned a permanent and prominent place in the canon of modern literature. Sought-after hand-addressed mailing envelope, 6 x 4, addressed by Kafka to his fiancée, “Fraulein, Felice Bauer, Frankfurt 9/M, Hotel Monopol-Metropole,” signed on the reverse with his return address, “Abs. Dr. F. Kafka, Prag Poric 7.” Bauer’s address has been struck through and corrected in another hand. Postmarked at Prague, April 19, 1913. In fine condition.
Kafka met Felice Bauer for the first time in August 1912 at a dinner hosted by his friend Max Brod, and he soon began to send her letters almost daily. These were eventually collected and published as Letters to Felice. Lasting from September 1912 to October 1917, Kafka’s correspondence with Bauer overlapped with his writing The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and the beginning of his work on The Trial. Despite two engagements during their period of correspondence, Kafka and Bauer would never marry. Few of Kafka’s works were published during his lifetime, and he passed away in obscurity from tuberculosis at age 40. His autograph is thus exceptionally rare and of the utmost desirability. Starting Bid $500
492. Margaret Mitchell Typed Letter Signed. TLS signed
“Margaret Mitchell Marsh,” one page, 7.25 x 11, personal letterhead, February 16, 1939. Letter to Harry Haggas in England, in part: “Naturally, it pleases me very much to know that an English reader is interested in Scarlett and her friends. No, I do not intend to write a sequel to ‘Gone With the Wind,’ for, to tell the truth, I do not know what happened to my characters after the last page.
Since your letter was written you have doubtless have read in English newspapers that the part of Scarlett in the film has been assigned to Miss Vivien Leigh, an English actress. I have never seen Miss Leigh on the screen, as her only American film was ‘A Yank at Oxford’ and I missed it. Her photographs show her to be a very charming young woman. I understand from reading our newspapers that production on the film began on January 13th and is being pushed rapidly. Clark Gable has the part of Rhett; Leslie Howard, Ashley; and Olivia de Havilland, Melanie.” In fine condition. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope. Starting Bid $500
Rare signed portrait of Stein taken by her greatest literary champion
493. Gertrude Stein Signed Oversized Photograph by Carl
Van Vechten. Rare vintage matte-finish 9.5 x 6.25 photo of Stein by writer and artistic photographer Carl Van Vechten, picturing the scribe above a valley floor with mountains rising in the distance, affixed to the original 12.25 x 12.5 mount, which is signed and inscribed in black ink, “For Alexander Smoller, in appreciation, Gertrude Stein.” The mount is also signed by Van Vechten. In fine condition, with some faint foxing, and a thin stain to the bottom edge. Photos signed by Stein remain appreciably rare, with this example all the more desirable given its appealing backdrop and intimate literary connection. Starting Bid $200
Steinbeck sells his script for Viva Zapata! to 20th Century-Fox
494. John Steinbeck Document Signed. DS, ten pages,
8.5 x 11, February 1, 1951. Agreement between Steinbeck and Twentieth Century-Fox in which the author agrees to sell the rights of “an original motion picture shooting script concerning the story of the life and activities of Emiliano Zapata” for the sum of $75,000. Signed at the conclusion in fountain pen by Steinbeck and countersigned by the studio’s treasurer. In fine condition. Released in 1952, the film Viva Zapata! was directed by Elia Kazan and starred Marlon Brando as Emiliano Zapata and Anthony Quinn as his brother, Eufemio. Steinbeck received an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Writing, Story and Screenplay.’ Starting Bid $200
495. William Makepeace Thackeray Signed Photo-
graph. Well-regarded British novelist (1811-1863) of such satirical classics as Vanity Fair. Scarce 2.5 x 4 carte-de-visite photo by L. Caldesi of London, boldly signed at the bottom of the image in ink, “W. M. Thackeray.” In fine condition, with faint staining and soiling. Starting Bid $200 496. Jules Verne Signature. Sought-after ink signature, “Jules Verne,” on an off-white 2.75 x 1.25 card. Handsomely mounted, matted, and framed to an overall size of 13.25 x 19. In fine condition. Starting Bid $200
497. Evelyn Waugh Signed Photograph. Vintage glossy 3.5 x 5.5
postcard photo of a young Evelyn Waugh wearing a bowler hat and holding a cigar, signed in the lower border in fountain pen. The lower border also bears the blindstamp of the photography studio. Reverse of photo addressed in Waugh’s own hand, who adds along the left side: “Please do not send book for autograph.” In fine condition, with light silvering to darker areas of the image. Photos of Waugh are quite scarce, with this particular example capturing the quintessence of this major 20th-century satirist. Starting Bid $200
Signed title page from the author’s edition of Leaves of Grass
498. Walt Whitman Signed ‘Leaves of Grass’ Title Page. Title page from the 1876 ‘Author’s Edition’ of Whitman’s renowned poetry collection Leaves of Grass, 4.75 x 7.5, published in Camden, New Jersey, in 1876, neatly signed in ink, “Walt Whitman.” The page features the text of his poem, ‘Come, said my Soul,’ which he used as the title-page epigraph for Leaves of Grass. Handsomely mounted, cloth-matted, and framed with a portrait and plaque to an overall size of 28 x 24. In fine condition, with faint toning, and minor loss to the upper right corner tip. Starting Bid $500
